Chapter 5 - The Price of Saving Family
Mara wanted to go alone.
Dominic refused before she finished the sentence.
“Samuel asked for me.”
“No.”
“He has Patrick.”
“I heard you.”
“Then you understand.”
“I understand perfectly. That’s why you’re not going alone.”
Mara paced Dominic’s office.
The same office where she had fallen into his chair days earlier.
Nothing felt funny now.
Samuel had called from Patrick’s phone.
One instruction.
Bring Thomas O’Leary’s evidence to an abandoned printing factory in Newark at midnight.
No police.
No security.
No Dominic Castellano.
“If he sees your people—”
“He won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know men like Samuel.”
Mara stopped.
“And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means he doesn’t want to kill Patrick unless he has to.”
“How comforting.”
“He wants leverage.”
“He already has it.”
Dominic walked toward her.
“Mara.”
She turned away.
He gently caught her wrist.
Not controlling.
Steadying.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I will bring your brother home.”
Her eyes filled.
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But I’m promising anyway.”
Something about the way he said it shattered her composure.
Mara covered her face.
“I should never have taken this job.”
Dominic waited.
“If I hadn’t come here…”
“Samuel was watching you before you came here.”
“He wanted Dad’s evidence.”
“Yes.”
“So Patrick was always in danger.”
“Yes.”
She lowered her hands.
“This isn’t because of you.”
“No.”
Mara looked at him.
“And Isabella wasn’t because of you either.”
The words struck him.
They both knew it.
Dominic’s expression softened.
“You have terrible timing.”
“So I’ve been told.”
At 11:40, Mara entered a sedan.
Dominic sat beside her.
“You cannot come inside.”
“I know.”
“Samuel specifically said—”
“I know what he said.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
“You’re going to ignore me.”
“Probably.”
Mara almost laughed.
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
At midnight, Mara walked into the abandoned factory carrying a leather case.
Her footsteps echoed through the enormous empty space.
“Patrick?”
A light switched on.
Patrick sat tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
“Mara!”
She rushed forward.
Samuel Price stepped from behind a machine.
He was thinner than Mara remembered.
Older.
His smile had not changed.
“Mara.”
She stopped.
Samuel held a pistol.
“Put the case down.”
“Let him go.”
“Case first.”
Mara placed it on the floor.
Samuel approached.
“You look well.”
“You look terrible.”
His smile tightened.
“You always had your father’s mouth.”
“My father was better than you in every possible way.”
Samuel crouched beside the case.
“Did Dominic read everything?”
“Yes.”
Samuel’s expression changed.
“Then Victor is finished.”
“Victor was finished the day he trusted you.”
Samuel laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Victor isn’t the one controlling this.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
“Who is?”
A sound came from the shadows.
Victor Castellano stepped forward.
Mara stared.
Samuel smiled.
Victor held a gun.
“You see,” Samuel said, “men like Dominic believe loyalty is inherited. That’s their weakness.”
Victor looked at Mara.
“Your father understood too much.”
Mara’s blood chilled.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
Victor seemed almost offended.
“Cancer saved me the inconvenience.”
Patrick struggled against the ropes.
“You son of a—”
Samuel struck him.
Mara lunged.
“Don’t touch him!”
Victor raised his weapon.
“Enough.”
Mara froze.
Victor approached.
“Where is the original memory card?”
“In the case.”
Samuel opened it.
Empty.
His face changed.
“What is this?”
Mara smiled.
“You really thought I’d bring it?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“You stupid woman.”
“No.”
Mara’s fear remained, but beneath it something stronger had appeared.
“My father spent his whole life teaching me not to hand dangerous things to dishonest men.”
Samuel raised the gun.
A voice came from the darkness.
“She’s also terrible at following instructions.”
Dominic.
Victor spun.
Everything happened quickly.
Lights exploded on.
Luca’s men emerged from multiple entrances.
Samuel grabbed Mara.
His arm locked around her neck.
Gun against her side.
“Back!”
Dominic stopped.
His face became terrifyingly still.
“Mara.”
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not,” Samuel whispered.
Dominic looked directly at him.
“Let her go.”
Samuel laughed.
“For what?”
“Me.”
Mara’s eyes widened.
Dominic continued.
“You wanted leverage over me. Take it.”
Victor stared at his nephew.
“There he is.”
Dominic ignored him.
Samuel tightened his grip on Mara.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“Yes.”
Mara almost laughed despite herself.
Samuel shoved the gun harder against her ribs.
Dominic’s gaze never moved.
“Let her go.”
Something in his voice made Mara understand.
He was afraid.
Dominic Castellano, the man everyone feared, was terrified Samuel might hurt her.
That realization changed something.
Mara slammed her heel down on Samuel’s foot.
He cursed.
She threw her weight sideways.
A gunshot cracked.
Dominic moved.
Luca moved.
Patrick knocked his chair backward into Samuel’s legs.
Samuel fell.
Security rushed forward.
Within seconds, Samuel was pinned to the floor.
Victor tried to escape.
Dominic intercepted him.
Uncle and nephew stood face to face.
Victor’s weapon lay several feet away.
“You killed Isabella,” Dominic said.
Victor’s arrogance disappeared.
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“She was my wife.”
“She made you weak.”
Dominic stared at him.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“She reminded me I was human.”
Police sirens approached.
Victor looked almost disappointed.
“You’re handing me to police?”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t how our family handles betrayal.”
Dominic looked toward Mara.
She was cutting Patrick free.
“It is now.”
Victor was arrested along with Samuel.
The evidence Thomas preserved was enough.
Financial fraud.
Conspiracy.
Extortion.
Murder.
For the first time in years, Dominic chose law instead of revenge.
Outside the factory, paramedics examined Patrick.
Mara hugged her brother so tightly he complained about breathing.
Then Patrick looked over her shoulder.
Dominic stood several feet away.
“So,” Patrick whispered, “that’s your boss?”
“Yes.”
“He looks like he wants to murder everyone.”
“That’s his relaxed face.”
Patrick studied Dominic.
“He came for you.”
Mara looked toward him.
“Yes.”
Dominic met her gaze.
Patrick smiled slightly.
“Oh.”
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You made a sound.”
“It was an observant sound.”
Mara walked toward Dominic.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
“Patrick is safe.”
“You promised.”
“I did.”
She looked at the cut on his cheek.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You always say that?”
“Usually.”
Mara took a clean cloth from a paramedic.
She reached toward his face.
Dominic went still as she gently pressed it against the cut.
“You know,” she said softly, “for a terrifying criminal mastermind, you require a surprising amount of supervision.”
His mouth twitched.
“Ms. O’Leary.”
“Yes?”
“You’re fired.”
Her hand stopped.
“What?”
Dominic smiled.
“From housekeeping.”
Mara stared.
“Why?”
“Because I have another proposition.”
May you like
And for the first time since her bakery closed, Mara wondered if losing one life might not mean losing everything.
Sometimes it meant making room for another.
